Tinker Board 2S
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ASUS Tinker Board 2S SBC launched for $120 and up

ASUS unveiled the Tinker Board 2 SBC with faster a Rockchip RK3399/OP1 processor together with the ASUS Tinker Board 2S board that adds a 16GB eMMC flash last October without pricing information. The good news is that the 2GB RAM version of Tinker Board 2S is now available on Amazon and Aliexpress for $120 and up. Note you’ll get a 5% discount if you are a follower on Aliexpress for a total of $132.99 including shipping. Compared to the first Tinker Board, the new boards are also offered with up to 4GB LPDDR4 RAM, an additional video output option with USB-C DisplayPort Alt mode, an upgrade to USB 3.0 ports and WiFi 5, RTC battery support, and a more stable 12V to 19V DC input. Here’s a reminder of Tinker Board 2S specifications: SoC – Rockchip RK3399 (OP1) hexa-core processor with 2x Arm Cortex-A72 cores up to 2.0 GHz, four […]

Argon EON Pi NAS Raspberry Pi 4
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Argon EON – A 4-Bay NAS for Raspberry Pi 4 (Crowdfunding)

Argon EON is a 4-bay network access storage (NAS) enclosure designed to work with Raspberry Pi 4 that follows other popular Raspberry Pi cases from the company including the Argon One and Argon One M.2. Also known as the Argon EON Pi NAS, the enclosure features four SATA hard drive ports that will fit two 3.5-inch SATA HDD and two 2.5-inch SATA for a maximum capacity of up to 40 TB with consumer-grade drives, although I suppose it’s not a hard limit. Argon EON Pi NAS specifications: Supported SBC – Raspberry Pi 4 SBC with Broadcom BCM2711 quad-core Cortex-A72 processor, up to 8GB RAM Storage 4x SATA drive bays with up to 2x 3.5-inch HDD, and up to 2x 2.5-inch SSD/HDD with up to 10TB capacity per drive MicroSD card socket (for OS) Video and audio outputs – 2x full-size HDMI 2.0 ports up to 4Kp60, AV jack with composite […]

ArmSoM RK3588 AIModule7 NVIDIA Jetson Nano-compatible SOM
OpenWrt 21.02
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OpenWrt 21.02 released with WPA3, HTTPS, TLS enabled by default

OpenWrt 21.02 has just been released with higher security with WPA3, HTTPS & TLS enabled by default, as well as initial support for the Distributed Switch Architecture (DSA), the Linux standard for configurable Ethernet switches. OpenWrt is the most popular open-source Linux distribution for routers and entry-level Linux-capable embedded systems, and the latest release includes over 5800 commits since the release of OpenWrt 19.07 in January 2020. WPA3 was already supported in OpenWrt 19.07, but not enabled by default,  OpenWrt 20.02 changes that, together with TLS thanks to trusted CA certificates from Mozilla. That means LuCi interface, wget, opkg package manager can all support HTTPS out-of-the-box. Note that HTTPS redirection can be disabled for LuCI in the configuration files. Another security change is that SELinux is now supported by OpenWrt, but not enabled by default. OpenWrt 21.02’s DSA implementation replaces the current swconfig system, but not all targets have been […]

Armbian 21.08
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Armbian 21.08 for Arm boards ships with latest Linux 5.10 LTS

Armbian provides stable releases four times a year, and Armbian 21.08 has just been released offering minimal, server or XFCE, Cinnamon and Budgie desktop Linux 5.10 LTS images for Arm boards, as well as a build system to customize your own image. If you’ve been using an Arm SBC that is NOT a Raspberry Pi board, you’ve probably been told to use Armbian, as the community is providing Debian and Ubuntu images for over 100 Arm boards that are either “Supported”, “WIP” (suitable for testing), or “CSC” (no official support, aka you’re on your own). Armbian 21.08 highlights (Note: EDGE are daily builds following daily builds of the Linux kernel and fresh packages from Debian sid, Ubuntu 21.04 “hirsute” or Ubuntu 21.10 “impish” userland): Based on Linux 5.10.59 released on August 15, 2021 Minimal, server or XFCE, Cinnamon, and Budgie desktop Fast automated language selection on the first run Regular […]

LibreELEC 10.0
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LibreELEC 10.0 minimal Linux OS for media playback released with Kodi 19.1

While most TV boxes and SBCs nowadays ship with or support a version of Android, people who just want the best viewing experience may prefer to switch to a Linux distribution such as LibreELEC or CoreELEC. The good news is that LibreELEC 10.0 has just been released with Kodi 19.1 and Linux 5.10 LTS. LibreELEC 10.0 is said to work well for Allwinner, Rockchip, and “Generic” Intel/AMD devices, while the Raspberry Pi 4 release’s codebase is rather new, and there may still be a few rough edges. Support for the previous generation Raspberry Pi boards has been dropped, and there’s no support for Amlogic platforms as CoreELEC already provides good support. Since LibreELEC 10.0 is based on Kodi 19.1, it benefits from the same features as Kodi 19 “Matrix” release including AV1 video decoding, a new skin, HDR support, and more. LibreELEC 10.1 support a wide range of single board […]

realsense end-of-life
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RealSense end-of-life – Intel is phasing out its RealSense 3D depth cameras

We covered Intel Realsense technology ever since it was unveiled at CES 2014 with a 3D depth camera and Nuance Dragon Assitant voice technology for various AI applications including robotics, digital signage, and 3D scanners. Our last post was in January 2021 about a Rockchip RK3399 based industrial-grade 3D vision camera together with Intel’s announcement of RealSense ID facial authentication. But RealSense is going away according to a report by CRN explaining Intel was phasing out RealSense AI depth cameras. The email from Intel reads in part: We are winding down our RealSense business and transitioning our computer vision talent, technology and products to focus on advancing innovative technologies that better support our core businesses and IDM 2.0 strategy … We will continue to meet our commitments to our current customers and are working with our employees and customers to ensure a smooth transition The transition will be orderly as […]

Rockchip RK3568, RK3588 and Intel x86 SBCs and SoMs in 2025
RKM DS03 digital signage player
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Android 9.0 digital signage player supports 4G LTE, watchdog timer, screen orientation

Rikomagic RKM DS03 is an Android 9.0 digital signage player based on Rockchip RK3399 processor with up 4GB RAM, 32GB eMMC flash storage, HDMI 2.0 output for 4K displays, Gigabit Ethernet, etc… The device looks very similar to an Android TV box, but it does come with some features specifically useful for digital signage players including optional 4G LTE connectivity, a watchdog timer to make sure the system continues running even after the system hangs, an on/off timer to schedule operating times, as well as screen orientation support for landscape or portrait operation. RKM DS03 specifications: SoC – Rockchip RK3399 hexa-core processor with 2x Cortex-A72 cores up to 2.0GHz, 4x Cortex-A53 cores up to 1.5GHz, Mali-T860 MP4 GPU System Memory – 4GB RAM Storage – 32GB eMMC flash, MicroSD card socket Video Output – HDMI 2.0 up to 4Kp60 with CEC support; touchscreen support via USB Audio – 3.5mm audio […]

Raspberry Pi Compute Module 4 mini router
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Raspberry Pi Compute Module 4 mini router keeps cool with aluminum alloy cover

There are many hardware platforms based on Raspberry Pi CM4 system-on-module, but in most instances, only the baseboard is provided, and you have to handle mounting and/or make an enclosure by yourself. One of those boards was Seeed Studio’s “Dual Gigabit Ethernet Carrier Board for Raspberry Pi Compute Module 4”, which as the name implies, offers two Gigabit Ethernet ports, as well as two USB 3.0 ports, and a micro HDMI port for video output. I say “was” because the company has now designed a PC/ABS case with an aluminum alloy cover acting as a heatsink to keep the RPi CM4 module cool. Raspberry Pi Compute Module 4 mini router’s specifications: SoM – Raspberry Pi CM4 with up to 8GB RAM, 32GB eMMC flash, dual-band WiFi 5 and Bluetooth 5.0 module; replaceable by any Raspberry Pi Compute Module 4 Storage – MicroSD card slot (only accessible with RPi CM4Lite module) […]

Boardcon LGA3576 Rockchip RK3576 System-on-Module designed for AI and IoT applications